


Keep it safe for you

by CasualEarper



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Nicole has a hard time being without waverly, Spoilers for Season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasualEarper/pseuds/CasualEarper
Summary: A look into Nicole's first year alone.She doesn't know where Waverly is, or if she's okay.But she knows she has to keep the homestead safe. For her.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 6
Kudos: 64





	Keep it safe for you

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I got and just could not get rid of until I had written it.  
> I was in the mood for some light angst, so I hope you are too.

The first thing she did was clean up around the house. 

Actually, the first thing she did was wait on the porch, but after a few hours that felt silly. 

She fixed the door that led to the kitchen. It seemed like it had been kicked in, and for a while Nicole debated on whether she should just replace it with a new one, but she decided that it wasn’t her decision to make. It wasn’t her house.

She put a new lock on it, and used some paint she had found to do some touch ups around the edges.

With a broken leg it was hard to do much else, but she tried to keep busy.

The first week it wasn’t so hard to pretend. Pretend like everything was okay. That everything would be okay.

She stayed at the homestead most of the time, except the one time she decided to take the truck and go get some food, and to bring Calamity Jane with her. It was a nightmare, and she decided to not do that again until she absolutely had to.

And she wanted to be there, when they came back. When she came back.

\--

She managed until the one month mark before she had to go out again. Her leg was still very much broken, but it was slowly getting better. This time her drive wasn’t as hellish, and she understood she didn’t really have another choice. It wasn’t like there was someone there to help her. 

On her trip she passed a bottle of whiskey that she brought home for Wynonna. She figured she’d need it when she got home again.

\--

Two months in Nicole’s body ached. Her leg was just about healed, but her back was sore from sleeping on a couch for so long. She didn’t want to go sleep in Waverly’s bed. She felt like that was something they’d do together if-no _when_ Waverly returned. It wasn’t because she knew the room would still smell of her, and she didn’t know if she could take it. (Even if it was, it was easier to say that it wasn’t.)

\--

At six months Purgatory had gone to shit.

The streets were a battlefield, and the town Nicole once called her home was gone. It had turned into a chaotic, lawless community, and all she had left was the homestead, which she protected dearly. She finally changed the door to the kitchen, getting a sturdier one, with a heavy lock. She covered most of the windows and retreated to a life inside. She stood guard, and made sure no one with bad intentions came close.

She had to keep it safe. Keep it safe for them.

\--

When it started getting close to the nine month mark Nicole realized what had happened to the homestead. It wasn’t what it used to be anymore, and the sweet smell Nicole would long for was long gone. It used to smell of vanilla and a hint of alcohol. Now it smelt like old wood and gunpowder. 

She looked around and couldn’t remember what it had felt like before. In the hallway there were boxes filled with guns and ammunition, and everything else Nicole had managed to get out from the station before the town went crazy.

The fabric Waverly had hung on the stairs all those year ago had been torn down during a home invasion a few weeks back. Two men and a woman had entered during the night in hopes of getting some of the weapons Nicole had there, but Nicole had heard them. They started shooting, and in all the fire Nicole was shot in the arm, but she wasn’t the only one. She took the three invaders out, and only after she had dragged their bodies out did she see a big ball of orange next to the stairs, lifeless.  
Nicole used the decorations to try and stop the bleeding Calamity Jane suffered from, but it didn’t help.

Nicole held her cat close as she felt the life slowly slip away. She could feel the last heartbeat. The last breath.

The next day Nicole buried her cat, burned the bodies, cleaned up the blood and cried herself to sleep on the couch.

She was all alone.

\--

At one year Nicole grabbed the bottle of whiskey she bought all those months ago.

When she had drunk half of it, she grabbed her phone and dialed in Waverly’s number. She had done that many times before, even if she knew it would just reach her voicemail, but it was worth it just to hear her voice. It hurt to be reminded, but not as much as forgetting.

As she walked the stairs, bottle in hand, she listened to the angelic voice coming from the phone.

_“Hi! This is Waverly Earp, I’m sorry I can’t answer right now but leave a message or send me a text and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a great day!”_

It hurt to hear the happy voice. It felt like someone had a firm hold of her heart, and was trying to rip it out of her chest.

What hurt most was not knowing.

Not knowing if they were coming back. Coming home. 

Not knowing if they were okay, or if they…

Not knowing hurt the most.

When Nicole opened the door to Waverly’s room she felt that hold on her heart tighten a little more. It looked just like it had when she and Waverly left it a year ago.

Waverly’s shirt was laying on the ground, her slippers stood the next to the bed, which was still unmade from when they had hurried up that morning.

Nicole’s jacket hung on the couch in the corner of the room, right next to Waverly’s.

She took a deep breath and called the number again, stepping inside the room at last.

_“Hi! This is Waverly Earp, I’m sorry I can’t answer right now but leave a message or send me a text and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a great day!”_

Nicole took a big sip from the bottle and laid down on the bed as the beep rang in her ear.

“Hey, baby…” Nicole started. 

She hadn’t recorded a message since the first months of them missing. She didn’t see the point.

“I… I just wanted to know if you’re coming home”

A tear slid down the side of Nicole’s face as she realized she maybe never would.

“I miss you”

Another tear.

“I miss Wynonna.”

Two more.

“And Doc and Jeremy, and everyone. I’m just so lonely and I want you to come back. Please, Waverly, plea-”

Her time ran out. The message stopped. Nicole threw her phone across the room.

“Please come back… please. I love you… please come home” She cried long into the night. Soon the bottle was empty, and Nicole was crying dry tears. She didn’t leave the bed for another two full days.

On the third day she went downstairs. She picked up her shotgun and sat back on the couch. She had to be ready. She had to keep the homestead safe. Safe for when they came back.

_If they came back._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think, and if there's anythign you'd like to point out.  
> Message me on Instagram/Tumblr/Twitter @CasualEarper and let's talk about this, season 4, or anything else!


End file.
